Revenge
by Baron Hausenpheffer
Summary: A character study on Ryoga Hibiki. After all of the humiliation, pain, and embarassing defeats Ranma has put him through, why doesn't Ryoga just quit? There's a one word answer...


Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma 1/2. Wouldn't it be cool if I did, though?

(_crickets chirping_)

Well, forget y'all, then! _Grumble, grumble..._

Author Notes: To tell the truth, I'm not entirely sure what you'd call this little story. I guess it could be considered a drabble, but I prefer to think of it as a character study. By the way, it might seem like I'm bashing Ranma in this story, but remember that it's being told from Ryoga's POV (the original Ranma-basher). So don't direct your ire at me, okay?

I've always thought that Ryoga was one of the most interesting characters in "Ranma 1/2", and definitely one of the most complex. Anyone who watches the series knows that this guy repeatedly goes through hell and keeps coming back for more. What drives someone to go through all of that, to endure that much hardship? To answer this question, I pondered it over and over again until I boiled his motivation down into one word.

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Revenge.

People throughout the ages have had a lot to say on the subject. Most say that, if followed too vigorously, it is a path that leads to self-destruction. Maybe so, but I don't care anymore. I stopped caring about what will happen to me personally a long, long time ago. All that is left is the sense that I have to keep going, keep going until he's defeated or I'm history.

I've hated him for so long that I can't remember a time when that wasn't the case. It's a real shame; on the rare occasions when we weren't trying to kill each other, I found Ranma to be a pretty decent guy. Nice, even. In a different world, under different circumstances, we might have been sparring partners, even friends. But as things stand, that can never be. Not after what he's put me through...

He cost me my dignity. I don't mean to brag, but I was considered the toughest guy at my middle school before Ranma arrived. For a complete stranger to appear out of nowhere and instantly steal the spotlight was annoying, but I could have forgiven that. When he made me go hungry every day and humiliated me in front of my classmates, however... well, he put too many straws on one camel's back. I challenged him to a man-to-man fight in the vacant lot behind my house, but when I got there, he had already run away. I will admit that it took me a while to find the lot, but c'mon! When someone challenges you to a duel, you stay put until they arrive, even if they are four... a little late. Ranma's cowardly actions drove me completely up the wall. I was so mad, I swore I'd track him down, fight him, and defeat him, even if I had to travel to the ends of the earth to do it. As it turned out, I pushed the limits of that vow by following Ranma and his father all the way to the Quinghai Province of China...

There, at Jusenkyo, he cost me my humanity. As I stood on a cliff overlooking the cursed springs, a giant panda (of all things) came crashing through the undergrowth behind me. I jumped to avoid being trampled, but soon found myself a floormat for some crazy girl with a ponytail. She stomped on my face, sending me in a downward spiral off the cliff and straight into one of the cursed springs below. When I hit the water, I immediately attempted to swim to the surface. I was having an unusually tough time doing so; when I looked at my hands and found only hooves, I discovered why.

Soon afterward, he indirectly almost cost me my life. I was initially overjoyed when that panda from earlier fished me out of the "Spring of Drowned Piglet". After all, it almost became "Spring of Drowned Hibiki"! Sadly, I literally went from the frying pan and into the fire. The panda had it in his mind to make a meal out of me, and if it hadn't been for the fact that the Jusenkyo guide felt like boiling me first, I might well have wound up a Chinese delicacy. None of my experiences at Jusenkyo would have happened if Ranma had just waited for me in the lot like he was supposed to. To add insult to injury, I later found out that the girl and panda who had put me through that living hell were none other than Ranma and Genma Saotome themselves.

I could almost sympathize with him if it weren't for the fact that he shows no remorse about what happened to me. He's upset about turning into a girl. On the one hand, I can understand that. On the other hand, his cursed form merely gives him a beautiful body that a supermodel would envy. Me? I turn into a frightened little creature that has to watch out for hungry dogs. He says that I should calm down, to try to think logically. Here's my logic. He ate enough bread to feed a small village while I went hungry. I came to our duel; he ran away like a coward. I had nothing to do with his getting cursed, but he had **everything** to do with my curse. Despite his protests to the contrary, I have every reason in the world to want to tear his stupid head off and would be entirely justfied in doing so.

Still, I think I could let it go, be the bigger man, abandon the grudge, and walk away... if it wasn't for her. All of the stuff I've mentioned so far were things that Ranma did to me personally, but his treatment of Akane is another story. Maybe I'd better tell you a little about her first. To make a long story short, Akane Tendo is quite possibly the most wonderful girl on the face of the planet. She's beautiful, she's kind, she's brave, she's sweet... I could go on and on. Hahaha... I can personally attest that she's very kind to animals. Because of an odd misunderstanding, she doesn't know about my curse and treats me as a pet, calling me "P-chan". I don't mind. In fact, if it weren't for the time I spend with her as P-chan, I might never have realized that she's just as beautiful a person on the inside as she is on the out.

If Ranma knows what a wonderful woman he is engaged to, then he sure doesn't show it. He constantly insults her, often about things that she's really sensitive about. She clobbers him and goes about her business like it never happened, but at night, before she goes to sleep, she's often asked the pig lying beside her, "Do you really think I'm built like a brick, P-chan?" Another good example is Akane's attempts at cooking. As much as I love the girl, I have to admit that her cooking is **really** sub-par. Still, you can always see in her eyes how hard she's worked and how badly she wants to improve. That makes his calling it "toxic", "poison", and "putrid" all the more unforgiveable. What really burns me up, though, is that Ranma is constantly flirting with other women. It's not enough that he has a great girl like Akane for his fiancee; oh, no! He has to have two other fiancees and a semi-girlfriend on the side, and he always makes it clear to Akane that they're "much cuter" than she is.

The worst thing about the situation is that... I think she loves Ranma. I'm not blind. As much as it pains me to say it, I've seen the way she looks at him on the rare occasions when he **is** nice to her. I would give ten years of my life to get that kind of look from her, even once. Who knows? Someday, if I ever manage to work up the guts to reveal my true feelings to her, if she can accept me as more than "just a friend", then maybe I will get one of those loving smiles. Until then, however, we'll keep up this sorry state of affairs. I'll love a girl who has no idea how I feel, Akane will love a guy who couldn't care less, and Ranma will keep her hanging just as long as it suits him.

That's why I can't, and **won't**, stop until I have my revenge. Ranma has taken everything from me: my pride, my very humanity, and even the girl I love. I won't rest until he is defeated and Akane is mine. The first is something worth fighting for; the second, to me, is even worth dying for.

Because of that, there's something that I've come to realize, that I certainly hope Ranma realizes as well. Our rivalry has passed way beyond fighting for petty pride. I'm fighting with one goal, one objective, and one end in mind.

Revenge.

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Finis. Well, I hope you enjoyed that. This is not at all my usual writing style, probably because it was written as a result of insomnia. Tell me what you think: should I pull more late-nighters, or is it time to get more sleep? Hahaha!

Anyhoo, please review! Later!


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